Envision will supply equipment for the 50MWh system. Image: RES

Envision Energy has partnered with renewable energy infrastructure firm Field to develop a 50MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Blackburn, England.

Envision Energy will supply the Field Whitebirk project with the necessary hardware and equipment to install the BESS onsite. The agreement is part of a long-term partnership aimed at helping Envision’s energy storage division in the UK and Europe.

Mark Walton-Hayfield, senior director for energy storage in the UK and Ireland at Envision Energy, said: “We are proud that our advanced BESS solutions have been recognised by Field for their exceptional standards in safety, reliability and technical capability. We are excited to bring our Tier 1 technology to Whitebirk whilst continuing to collaborate and partner with Field more broadly and make a significant contribution to the global energy transition.”

Ben Saward, vice president for supply chain and procurement at Field, added: “Envision Energy’s product and expertise helped them progress swiftly through a thorough, competitive tender process and we’re pleased to be working with them on Field Whitebirk. When operational, the site will join our network of UK battery storage sites in balancing increasingly intermittent energy supplies across the grid to bolster energy security, bring down costs to consumers and decarbonise the power sector by 2030.”

Envision Energy’s BESS ambitions

Envision Energy has made a number of major moves in the UK BESS market this year.

In May, Atlantic Green announced that it signed a £200 million deal with Ameresco, which will develop a new 300MW BESS with Envision Energy. The Cellerhead BESS project will be connected to the National Grid’s Cellarhead substation in the West Midlands and will have a maximum energy capacity of 624MWh.

A year prior, Envision inked a deal with the Harmony Energy Income Trust (HEIT) to supply it with BESS equipment with a capacity of 166MWh for their Wormald Green and Hawthorn Pit projects.

Other major BESS firms have been investing in the UK market, with final planning permission recently being granted for a 400MWh BESS near Carlisle. The 200MW/400MWh, 2-hour duration Harker Project is a joint development between Canadian Solar subsidiary